Saturday, January 30, 2016

Determined to use up stash and finish projects despite physical obstacles following a recent stroke followed by rehab, Barbara is not about to set her love of quilting aside. Previously Barbara did her own quilting on small projects like this one and only brought large quilts in to be longarmed. She is working to get back to where is she able to do that again. For now, she asked me to quilt this little guy as she was anxious to hang this bright and cheery wall hanging up on her kitchen wall. So small, I decided to quilt this one on the Juki.

I enjoyed getting in some FMQ again at a sit down :0)

It's been quite awhile, kind of like visiting an old friend, it felt good!

This was a project Barbara followed from a magazine. She asked me to quilt it as it was pictured which I did except the background. Pictured was a simple open stipple which I replaced with some McTavishing, kept the stitching small in order to make the center with Barbara's hand applique pop. Mission accomplished and it was fun!

It's a really good fabric to blend with other fabrics, Kelly uses it allot
It's even in this sample quilt, the light has a tinge of green
that worked well with the green Omni thread used for the quilting

The quilting design is from Anne Bright named Sugar Skull Flowers

The batting Kelly brought in for all three quilts is Quilter's Dream Blend

Monday, January 25, 2016

It's been awhile since I've frosted one for Goldie. We have another in the works plus a third that I will be picking up this week. Goldie's Stash Buster is coming up this Thursday 10 to 4 in the classroom at Cathy's and Honey Run Quilters. To see more of Goldie's work... Goldie as our featured quilter at one of our guild's past quilt shows.

Goldie's is quilted with New Wave, my favorite design to stitch out on a Bargello

Quilted with a cotton thread from Signature

Close ups of Sandy's...

Quilted with a new 2015 design by Jessica Schick at Digi-Tech named Ornamental Webs. I love how she sets up her designs as point to points. It makes using the designs so versatile. They can be flipped, mirrored and then linked together to run like an e2e. Once laid out on the computer and lined up with the blocks, it's a great option to give a custom look, especially when coupled with a border design.

This pic without the flash shows the quilting better. The very first pic with flash is a better example of the true colors. Beautiful Sandy, I love this one! Didn't get a pic with the backing, it's the same fabric at the inner border. Batting is Quilter's Dream Wool. Love the loft! Note: Good that we are getting lots of rain here in Northern California. Not good is that I have not been able to take pix outdoors. That is OK, we will take the much needed rain!

Thank you Sandy and Goldie

and all of the Goldie Girls who pitched in with a gift certificate for Goldie.

Two quilts were finished in December for Beckie. One was in Christmas prints with Cardinals in snow covered Pine Trees that was custom quilted and apparently I neglected to get any pix. Bummer, it's really pretty! Beckie made that quilt for herself, she loves birds. Beckie also made this second quilt for a family member for Christmas. This one features a wolf print with some Stonehenge fabrics.

Quilted with a pine tree and pine cones quilting design by Thomas Schick

Thomas has really great wildlife and outdoor type designs available

on Jessica Schick's website ~ Digi-tech. It's a great site with lots of designers to pick from.

One of my go to sites for designs and Jessica is really helpful to fix format issues

Wool batting from Quilter's Dream. LOVE the loft!

One more, this quilt is made by Kathryn,

a Christmas gift for her mother

Shenandoah is the pattern, Kathryn picked some great fabrics

Quilted with a design I refer to as Hummers

It has small leaves with humming birds. Worked really well with the small leaf prints,

especially the backing. Quilted with a Fantastico variegated thread from Superior

with, guess what... Quilter's Dream Wool :0) Love the loft!

Here is a close up of a humming bird...

Thank you Kathryn! Donna and Beckie too!!!

I am so pleased to call each of you friends, there are five of us that meet for lunch every Monday, Nancy too. Not a quilter per say, I have quilted a vintage Dresden Plate quilt for Nancy that was made by a member of her family. Some days we are joined by more quilters, Karen and Kathy W, customers as well. I have the best customers!

Donna, Beckie and I have known each other from Cathy's, before Honey Run made the move, many moons ago ;0) Kathryn, is new to the group and the 'office'. What is really amazing, Kathryn is also new to quilting! Karen loaned her one of her sewing machines, Beckie started supplying her with fabric from her stash and she has taken off from there. She made a second quilt as a Christmas gift for her MIL and quilted it herself! We are all pretty impressed by this very talented young woman!

There are more quilts to catch up on. Between the holidays, a bug I caught and just trying to keep up with life. There are more quilts to post, for another day, some quilts in the works right now. Getting used to a new to me camera, a point and shoot of Michael's that is working out for now. Another challenge is taking pix indoors. We are getting rain... lots of it, which is a good thing, but not for taking pix outdoors. All good, we need the rain! Yea!!!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

First, some catch up from the end of last year. This is an Asian inspired quilt made by Betty D. for a member of her family going off to college. Betty chose a beautiful panel that inspired the fabrics for the Disappearing Nine Patch blocks. Quilted with Woven Wind from Apricot Moon with a gold Glide thread to add to the gold accents of the Asian fabrics.

Betty added some very nice accents with a tiny gold and black inset border with flange. Very well done! We were also happy with how the quilting played with the panel print.

Backed with a soft gold flannel backing. Well done Betty, thank you!
Looking forward to the wedding quilt and the little quilt is quilted :0)

A baby quilt made by Linda E.

Love how Linda used French Braids for the borders. Made from scraps with allot of pinks, it is quilted with an Antique Rose Omni thread color. We settled on a fun idea for the quilting... Fireworks and it worked! IMHO. Linda will cut the corners with 45 degree angles before added the binding for a different shape too. Well done Linda! Thank you

I am currently working on another quilt for Linda. It's made with blocks from The Farmer's Wife book and it's gorgeous! Pix soon. A close up of Fireworks quilting design...

I am very happy with my customers, which brings me to the subject of changes and making a difficult decision. I am no longer taking new customers with the goal of scaling back the time I spend quilting for others. I have such a wonderful local client base, a second decision is not to take internet quilting orders. The website will remain intact for the purpose of information and inspiration for both clients as well as fellow bloggers.

There are plans to add tutorials to the website. My goal is to give tips to other longarmers and quilters. Resources and links. It's a great business to get into and I would love to see up and coming quilters make it a success!